In statement issued in Accra Wednesday, the minister said the report exposes earlier claims by sections of the media that Ghana was the second most corrupt country in Africa.

Read his full statement below:Government has taken note of the latest report of the Corruption perception Index launched earlier today.

The report ranks Ghana 56th out of 168 countries with a score of 47.

We acknowledge the singling out of Ghana and Senegal for praise in the report on efforts made by the respective governments on one hand and social partners on the other to combat the menace.

This report, arguably the most authoritative source of corruption surveys in the world, belies the spurious claims of certain media outlets a few months ago that Ghana had been ranked as the second corrupt nation in Africa by Transparency International.

We note that though this performance is one point lower than that of 2014, it can be viewed within the context of the general performance of all countries. Ghana ranks 7th in Africa which means that apart from six African countries we performed better than all other countries on the continent and 112 countries worldwide.

Given that this is a perception survey, it stands to reason that the views expressed by respondents were based on perceptions about the subject in the year under review. It also stands to reason therefore that the intense media focus on the allegations of corruption in the Judiciary as well as the repetition of some obviously false allegations against government n 2015 contributed to the perception.

We are also mindful of the “paradox of exposure” which creates a scenario where government’s efforts to expose and punish acts of wrongdoing such as the National Service Case, generates discussions among the populace creating a misleading impression of pervasive corruption when the opposite is in fact the case.

We nonetheless commit and rededicate ourselves to the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).

We shall continue to strengthen the relevant state Institutions and work with civil society to win the war against corruption.

We commend all stakeholders who have genuinely contributed to this enviable feat as proclaimed by Transparency International.